Objective To evaluate the influence of two ultra-low doses of oral continuous combined hormone therapy and placebo on metabolic parameters, and to assess safety endpoints and overall tolerability in healthy postmenopausal women. Design In a subpopulation of the Clinical study on Hormone dose Optimisation In Climacteric symptoms Evaluation (CHOICE) trial, lipids and parameters of glucose metabolism

Generic immunosuppressants may offer economic advantages, but their use is still controversial. At our centre, 55 heart-transplant patients were switched from CellCept(®) to Myfenax Teva(®) (MT) (n=51, 18% female, 8.1±6.6 years post-transplantation) and/or Prograf(®) to Tacrolimus Sandoz(®) (TS) (n=17, 41% female, 6.6±5.8 years post-transplantation).

The proteinuric actions of protamine sulfate (PS) have classically been, at least partly, attributed to alterations of the negatively charged glomerular endothelial glycocalyx (GC). To investigate whether the charge-selective properties of the glomerular filtration barrier (GFB) would be altered by PS we assessed the glomerular sieving of conventional, uncharged, polydispersed Ficoll (n-Ficoll) co

Ultrasound imaging of the heart is a non-invasive method widely used for different applications. One of them is to measure the blood volume in the left ventricle at different stages of the heart cycle. This demands a proper segmentation of the left ventricle and a (semi-) automated method would decrease intra-variability as well as workload. This paper presents a semi-automated segmentation method t

Objective: To obtain experiences and expert opinion on treatment of SSc patients with TNF-alpha antagonists. Methods: An investigation was carried out among the EUSTAR centres into their expertise on use of TNF-alpha antagonists. Assessment forms on the frequency of TNF-alpha inhibitor use were distributed to EULAR Scleroderma Trials and Research Group (EUSTAR) centres. Afterwards, a three round D

Human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) is less transmissible and less pathogenic compared to HIV-1 and, when matched for CD4+ T cell count, the plasma viral load in HIV-2 infected individuals is approximately one log lower than in HIV-1 infected individuals. The explanation for these observations is elusive, but differences in virus controlling immunity generated in the two infections may be

Knowledge of subcellular localizations (SCLs) of plant proteins relates to their functions and aids in understanding the regulation of biological processes at the cellular level. We present PlantLoc, a highly accurate and fast webserver for predicting the multi-label SCLs of plant proteins. The PlantLoc server has two innovative characters: building localization motif libraries by a recursive meth

Background and purpose: Studies on accelerated fractionation (AF) in head and neck cancer have shown increased local control and survival compared with conventional fractionation (CF), while others have been non-conclusive. In 1998 a national Swedish group decided to perform a randomised controlled clinical study of AF. Materials and methods: Patients with verified squamous cell carcinoma of the o

Abstract in UndeterminedWe consider the regularity of measurable solutions $ \chi$ to the cohomological equation$\displaystyle \phi = \chi \circ T -\chi, $where $ (T,X,\mu)$ is a dynamical system and $ \phi \colon X\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ is a $ C^k$ smooth real-valued cocycle in the setting in which $ T \colon X\rightarrow X$ is a piecewise $ C^k$ Gibbs-Markov map, an affine $ \beta$-transformati

Abstract in Undetermined ABSTRACT. Optical techniques for tissue diagnostics currently are experiencing tremendous growth in biomedical applications, mainly due to their noninvasive, inexpensive, and real-time functionality. Here, we demonstrate a hand-held fiber optic probe instrument based on fluorescence/reflectance spectroscopy for precise tumor delineation. It is mainly aimed for brain tumor

Dodecyltrimethylammonium triflate (DTATf) micelles possess lower degree of counterion dissociation (a), lower hydration, and higher packing of monomers than other micelles of similar structure. Addition of sodium triflate ([NaTf] > 0.05 M) to DTATf solutions promotes phase separation. This phenomenon is commonly observed in oppositely charged surfactant mixtures, but it is rare for ionic surfactan

The early science results from the new generation of high-resolution stellar spectroscopic surveys, such as Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) and the Gaia European Southern Observatory survey (Gaia-ESO), will represent major milestones in the quest to chemically tag the Galaxy. Yet this technique to reconstruct dispersed coeval stellar groups has remained largely untested until recently. We

Management of foot ulcer in individuals with diabetes remains a major therapeutic challenge throughout the world. We performed a critical review of evidence of present and new techniques and devices in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcer. The golden standard for optimal evidence in the Cochrane system is level I randomized controlled trials, and meta-analyses of several randomized controlled tria

OBJECTIVE: the aim of the study was to ascertain the attitudes of Swedish midwives towards management of very preterm labour and birth and to compare the attitudes of midwives at university hospitals with those at general hospitals. DESIGN: this cross-sectional descriptive and comparative study used an anonymous self-administrated questionnaire for data collection. Descriptive and analytic statist

This paper aims to explore the multifaceted meaning, logic, and morality of informal transactions in order to better understand the social context that informs the meaning of corruption and bribery in post-Soviet Uzbekistan. It will be argued that the informal transactions in Uzbek society reflect different cultural and functional meanings from those in most of the Western world, and hence transac

Background. Contact allergy prevalence rates change over time as a result of variations in allergen exposure. Data from patch test clinics are often used as markers for allergy trends. Objectives. The aim of the present retrospective study was to describe trends in rates of sensitization to allergens in the Swedish baseline series. Patients/materials/methods. Prevalence rates are described by comp

Diagnostic DNA analysis using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has become a valuable tool for rapid detection of biothreat agents. However, analysis is often challenging because of the limited size, quality, and purity of the biological target. Pre-PCR processing is an integrated concept in which the issues of analytical limit of detection and simplicity for automation are addressed in all steps le

Background: In the framework of the clinical validation of research tools, this investigation presents a validation study of an automatic medial temporal lobe atrophy measure that is applied to a naturalistic population sampled from memory clinic patients across Europe. Methods: The procedure was developed on 1.5-T magnetic resonance images from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative data